Danger
by Hybryd0
Summary: Eric just wanted to have a fun night out.  Too bad things don't go as planned.


AN: This is a crossover with Justice League Unlimited. If you know nothing about JLU you're pretty much in the same boat as Eric. This is the introduction to the full story that's going to follow and takes place between seasons three and four.

VvVvV

When Eric went out Friday night all he wanted was to dance, drink, and have a good time. Work had been rough the whole week and he just needed a little fun. He felt like if he didn't get some relief from the stress that he would explode. Or have a meltdown. Neither one sounded like fun.

It was all that damn _replacement_'s fault. Ryan Wolfe was the bane of Eric's existence. The kid just seemed to do everything he could to get on Eric's nerves. And if that wasn't true it certainly felt that way. Eric wished Ryan would just take the hint and quit. No one deserved Speed's place on the team.

Of course, what he didn't anticipate was being grabbed and used as a personal shield by Vengeance. He didn't generally keep up with the whole meta-human community. He knew what he'd seen on the news before. The whole Cadmus fiasco and whatnot as well as the battle between Superman and some alien-Dark-something-that had torn Metropolis apart. But living in Miami he was very familiar with Vengeance. Vengeance had once been called Steel Avenger and had once been a superhero and partner to Icewolf. For whatever reason that Eric didn't know and didn't really care about, Vengeance had gone solo and become increasingly violent and eventually broke the non-lethal creed that the superhero community lived by. He began killing villains and worse than that he was taking out any innocent bystanders that just happened to be in the way. That had put him on the Justice League's villain list and Icewolf seemed to take it as his personal mission to apprehend Vengeance. The ex-partners had been fighting each other ever since with their fights growing more and more violent and uncontrolled each time.

And it just so happened that Eric had the distinct pleasure of being Vengeance's hostage to keep Icewolf at bay. The cold steel of Vengeance's powered suit of armor was hard and unforgiving against Eric's neck. Eric's instinctive reaction was to struggle, but he made himself stay still. Instead he stared as calmly as he could into Icewolf's blazing green eyes.

"Come any closer, Wolf, and he dies," Vengeance boomed with a cold mechanical voice.

"Let him go, Vengeance," Icewolf's deep voice was commanding. Eric wouldn't have hesitated to follow the order. "You don't want to hurt bystanders."

"Back off, Wolf. You're not taking me in. There's too much I need to do," the ex-superhero replied fiercely.

Eric gulped at the cold, factual tone Vengeance used. He knew that the vigilante had no qualms about killing him. He also knew that at least for that moment he made a better hostage than a dead body. He hated the fact that he couldn't do anything to free himself.

"You've done too much. Don't you see what you've become?" Icewolf coaxed.

The hand tightened on Eric's neck just enough to make breathing slightly more difficult. Vengeance gave an ominous growl and Eric was not shooting Icewolf a pleading look. It was a look of "do something you idiot" because Eric Delko did not plead.

"I'm getting dangerous villains off the streets!" Vengeance yelled.

"And becoming one yourself!"

Eric gagged and choked as his furious captor tightened his hold further. Icewolf tensed, all his impressive muscle rippling and flexing. Vengeance's stance shifted and Eric braced himself the best he could. He expected one of the two to make a move, but neither moved.

"Let the hostage go," Icewolf eventually said. "This is between you and me."

"Do you think I'm a fool?" Vengeance snarled.

The wolf hero's expression didn't change, but his voice was slightly amused. "You said it, not me."

By then a crowd was gathering. Nothing drew spectators quicker than a fight between a superhero and a supervillain. The cop in Eric worried about the civilians' safety. However, being a hostage there was nothing at all he could do for them except hope that the two super-powered rivals didn't decide to fight.

"Let him go and I'll let you walk away," Icewolf bargained.

"You lie," Vengeance snarled.

"You know me better than that," the superhero retorted. "I'll keep my word. However, if you don't let him go you're not walking away."

Vengeance laughed at that and the sound vibrated against Eric's back. The CSI stayed as still as possible as the armored villain's grip loosened enough for him to breathe properly again. He had to wonder if Icewolf really knew what he was doing. Of any superhero, Icewolf should have known how to deal with the renegade ex-hero. Eric thought the jerk was just trying to piss off the bad guy.

"You may be strong, Wolf, but my armor makes me stronger. And I have weaponry, which you lack," Vengeance taunted. "You haven't been able to stop me yet. What makes you think you can do it tonight?"

"I'm tired of you threatening innocent bystanders," Icewolf retorted and Eric felt a chill at the hero's cold tone. "I'm tired of you thinking you can do whatever you want and get away with it all in the name of being some kind of twisted sense of justice. In honor of who you used to be I'm giving you this one last chance to walk away and give up this gruesome crusade of yours."

"You just don't understand, do you?" Vengeance growled with that mechanical voice. Eric winced as the armored man's grip tightened a little. "I'm doing what needs to be done! What you so-called superheroes are too chicken shit to do! I'm getting rid of the bad guys!"

"You are a bad guy!"

Vengeance roared in fury, but before he could do anything to Eric, Icewolf acted. Ice shot from the wolf's clawed fingers and struck the ground. A sheet of ice formed under Vengeance's feet and the armored man's balance wavered. Icewolf pounced and Vengeance released Eric to instinctively try and break his fall. Eric found himself snatched up into strong arms as Icewolf leaped away from Vengeance and deposited him a safe distance away.

"Stay out of trouble," the hero rumbled and then turned and bound back at Vengeance.

The armored villain had managed to get to his feet and the fight was on. Vengeance met the hero with a bone shattering punch to the jaw. Icewolf was rocked, but recovered quick enough to duck Vengeance's second swing. The white furred superhero lunged up and at the same time brought both fists up into his opponents chin. The resulting impact was enough to dent the metal, but the villain himself was unscathed. Icewolf danced backwards when Vengeance swung at him again and then lunged forward and drove the heel of his foot into the armored man's knee. The metal bent with a screech and Vengeance stumbled off balance. The wolf-hero used his enemy's loss of balance and swung a powerful right hook that was followed by a knee strike to the chest. Vengeance was rocked backwards.

Eric was both amazed and startled by the ferocity of the fight. He had seen Icewolf's fights on the news, but seeing one first hand was completely different. He could hear the grunts of exertion from both fighters. He could almost feel every hit that landed. The sound of fist on metal or metal on flesh was so much more powerful in real life. And it made him appreciate what Icewolf really did.

Icewolf was sent tumbling across the road, but managed to roll to his feet and duck as Vengeance came at him again. He sent a blast of ice to freeze the ground and the villain slipped and hit the ground with a bang. He then encased Vengeance in ice from chin to toe. The armored man roared in frustration and fury as he was unable to free himself. There was a satisfied, almost smug smirk on Icewolf's face as he approached his fallen enemy. Eric saw the superhero reach down toward the neck of the armor before he spotted movement on the roof above.

"Above you!" Eric shouted.

The superhero looked up, but didn't have time to react. Eric watched in horror as the supervillain known as Takedown dropped off the roof and tackled Icewolf. Icewolf fell under Takedown's weight, but managed to kick his nemesis off. Eric felt useless as he watched the events unfold. Takedown was another supervillain he was all too familiar with. Takedown was the source of many of the criminal problems in Miami and was quickly becoming known as the King of Miami. He was ruthless and either killed his rivals or made them disappear. His origins and true identity were unknown as he tended to wear a full black suit with a black mask that had red lenses. What was known were the superpowers he boasted among them magnetism, power over earth, and the ability to absorb kinetic energy and use it to improve his own abilities. It made him more than a match for Icewolf.

"I know you."

Eric was surprised by the voice that sounded behind him. He spun and took several steps back at who he saw there. Dressed in a black suit with silver trims and a black mask with yellow lenses was Takedown's partner, Lockdown. Lockdown only had one super power-the ability to make any joint he touched lock up and become useless. He was also a very, very accomplished fighter who was proficient in many fighting styles and some theorized that the ability to master any fighting style he saw might be another super power. The fact that Lockdown was personally addressing Eric was very disconcerting.

"You're Officer Eric Delko, CSI," Lockdown said making Eric's heart thump hard. "You put away my best friend."

**Oh shit. **Eric took another step back and wished like hell that he had his gun. He knew exactly who Lockdown was talking about. Two weeks prior Eric had managed to gather enough evidence to connect Warren Richards also known as Breakdown to a killing spree that claimed ten lives. He had yet to be convicted or sentenced, but everyone knew the prosecutor was calling for the death penalty. Eric had thought his name was kept out of the media for exactly this reason, but apparently someone had leaked the info.

"I'm going to make you pay," Lockdown growled.

The furious supervillain took a step toward Eric, but a shout from across the road drew his attention. "Lockdown! Catch!"

Takedown's body slammed into Lockdown with enough force to send both villains tumbling away. Eric felt so completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening so fast that he jumped in surprise as Icewolf bound to his side. The white furred superhero looked at his two enemies that were untangling themselves and then at Eric. Those piercing green eyes made Eric feel like he was an open book that Icewolf was just reading right through. Then Takedown was up and a huge chunk of the street ripped out of the ground and flew at Icewolf. The wolf-hero grabbed Eric and bound over the chunk of street and at the same time fired off a blast of Ice with his free hand. Takedown dodged the ice and with an upward motion of both hands a pillar of rock erupted behind Icewolf effectively cutting off that escape route.

Icewolf squared off with his two greatest enemies in front of him and Eric trying to make as small a target as possible behind him. He could still feel Lockdown's eyes on him. Eric cringed. If Icewolf got taken out of his protective position, Lockdown was going to be all over Eric.

Takedown lunged and so did Lockdown. Icewolf intercepted Takedown, but the other supervillain was on top of Eric before the CSI had a chance to realize what was happening.

"I'm going to take you apart, slowly and painfully," Lockdown snarled as his hands clenched on Eric's shoulders.

"He--."

"No one can help you now."

Eric struggled as one of Lockdown's hands clenched around his neck. At the same time the other hand went about locking up all his joints. It didn't take long before Eric was completely helpless. Unable to move at all he was only able to stare into the dark eyes of his killer.

"ERIC!"

Suddenly he could breathe again and he watched in dazed shock as Icewolf slammed Lockdown into the ground with punishing force before lifting the supervillain and tossing him down the street with ease. Before the white furred hero could do anything else the ground Icewolf was standing on lifted up, flipped over, and then slammed down again. That would have been the end of a normal human, but a supersonic howl blew the piece of ground apart and Icewolf bound out. Eric could tell that the white furred superhero was _pissed. _More so than he had ever seen before. His ears were pinned flat to his skull and his lips were curled back to reveal razor sharp teeth that the wolf looked ready to use.

Icewolf howled and sent spikes of ice flying at Takedown. The supervillain managed to dodge a few of them, but one pierced his shoulder and the other got his leg. Takedown stumbled and Icewolf threw a sheet of ice under his feet. The black clad man slipped and he went down, but was able to use his terra-powers to lift the iced piece of ground horizontal and slid to land on his good foot. Eric tried to scoot himself backwards away from the fight, but his movement drew Takedown's attention to him.

"You have a few things to learn about being a hero, Icey," Takedown sneered. Eric was sure the conversation wasn't heading in a good direction for him.

Suddenly the ground beneath him twisted and rose up. He was trapped by rock arms that held him so tight he almost couldn't breathe. Eric couldn't believe it. For the third time in less than an hour he was a hostage and in danger. Just when had the world decided to go crazy?

"Like how to keep a better eye on civvies," the villain continued.

Icewolf was frozen and Eric was getting more and more freaked out. News crews were gathering and so were cops, but there was no one that could do anything to save him. Only Icewolf could save him and the superhero seemed unsure of what to do next. To make matters worse Lockdown had joined his partner again. Eric was in a very bad position.

"Now what're you gonna do fleabag?" Lockdown taunted.

Eric was doing the not-pleading stare again.

"And you can thank the cops for this," Takedown continued.

The next thing anyone knew every gun from ever cop had been pulled out of their grasp. The guns then were positioned between the two villains and the superhero. Every gun was pointed at Icewolf. The white furred wolf-hero stared with wide green eyes at what he was faced with. Eric was sure they were both going to die.

"Wow, I didn't realize the police had so many shotguns. Oh hey, there's a rifle," Icewolf said, trying to sound calmer than he looked. "That's a nice collection."

"How about an up close and personal view," Takedown suggested.

"I didn't realize the police had such a wide range of weaponry," Icewolf continued as if Takedown hadn't said anything at all. "Hey, is that a Desert Eagle? I didn't know the police carried those."

"That's not a Desert Eagle," Takedown sneered. "Cops here don't carry them."

"Oh, huh," the white superhero shrugged. Eric wondered what the hell the wolf was up to. "Never been much of a gun person myself. They're too untrustworthy. You stake your life on the uncertainty that the gun will actually fire. And there's so many things that can go wrong."

"Guns make the fight," the supervillain retorted. "The one carrying the most guns wins."

"If you say so," Icewolf said with another shrug. "So, Take, what do I have to do for you to let him go?"

"You're not in a position to bargain, fur ball."

"But he is in a perfect position to try and stall us," Lockdown commented. "He's stalling."

"Stalling won't do you any good, fleabag," Takedown sneered. "In fact, I think I'm gonna end this now."

Eric flinched as he expected the guns to go off, but to his, and everyone else's surprise, there was nothing. It was then he noticed the thick ice that had covered all the guns. They were frozen solid with no way they would fire anytime soon. It took Takedown and Lockdown both just a second too long to realize what had happened. In that time Icewolf let loose a sonic howl that shattered the rocks holding Eric and bound forward. Eric suddenly found himself in strong, warm arms and held on tight as the wolf-hero ran away.

"You can't leave them back there," Eric argued.

Icewolf gave a low rumbling growl, but didn't reply. A few second later he skid to a stop in an alley and put Eric down. He then reached down and snatched out Eric's phone and tossed it to him. Eric caught it, surprised that the wolf-hero even knew where it was.

"Call your boss," Icewolf ordered. "Stay here until he comes for you."

With that the wolf was gone. Eric stood in shock for a few seconds before he flipped open his phone.

"H? Yeah, I need you to come get me."


End file.
